Monday, May 27, 2013

Memorial Day was officially established as a national holiday in 1971, although celebrating the day actually began soon after the civil war. Memorial Day is designated as a day to remember the men and women who gave their lives in the service of their country, whereas Veteran's Day is designed to honor all veterans, dead or alive. Today I remember members of my family that made the ultimate sacrifice.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Hearing the news of the devastating tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma yesterday, I couldn't help but be reminded of my days of living in tornado alley. I was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri and every spring and summer we dealt with the fear of tornadoes. I lived there for 26 years before I moved and there was only one time when I had to face the green, sickly skies up close and personal.

Davidson Elementary School

I was attending school at Davidson Elementary in Kansas City North. I think I must have been in fourth grade. I vividly remember that tornado sirens were going off and our teachers escorted us to the downstairs hallway, that had no windows. As we passed the front door of the school I saw that tell-tale green sky. As we sat crowded together in the basement, I remember my friend Laura crying uncontrollably because she was worried about her mother. I remember feeling the need to be calm and talking with her to try to help her understand that her mother would know what to do to be safe.

Luckily, a tornado didn't touch down. If there was one, it was brief and completely missed the school. It wasn't until a year or so after I moved away that a tornado touched down a block from my childhood home.

My heart is sick today thinking of the poor folks in Moore. I know that life is not about things, but as a genealogist I can't help but also mourn the memories that have been lost. I wish the people of Moore the strength to get through this horrible day and the weeks to come.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

There are times when real life seems to push my "past" life out of the way. Right now is one of those times. There are big changes going on with the living right now which I hope to be able to share with you all soon. For the time being, my posts may be few and far in between so please bear with me! I very much enjoy reading your posts and getting your feedback to my various thoughts so I hope to be back sooner rather than later. Thank you!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

I have written about using Google Alerts to monitor the unauthorized distribution of your blog content. Today, I'll share how Google Alerts work to find new family information.

Google Alerts is a tool that allows you to set up automatic searches for new web content that interests you. Google scans the web for your entries and sends you an email when something new related to your search is posted on the web. I have set up a Google Alert for the name of my blog and some of my more interesting posts just to monitor if someone uses the content without my approval. But another great use of Google Alerts is to search for content about family names.

A couple of years ago I set up a Google Alert to search for the name: Roelker. Just last week I received a hit on the alert, sending me to a news article from Cortez, Colorado. Amazingly, the article was posted about a German community that the Roelkers helped to form in southwest Colorado. It gave details as to exactly where the family lived and now I have someone to reach out to for more information. I would have probably never come across this great article if it weren't for my Google Alert. In fact, I did a regular Google search for "Roelker" and the same article did not show up. I even helped the search by adding the city "Cortez" and still did not find the article.

Google is a powerful tool for searching for your ancestors and Google Alerts makes the work easy. You can set up as many alerts as you like and manage how many times a day Google alerts you with links relevant for your search. In order to not have your inbox explode with information I suggest narrowing down your alerts to more unique family names or locations.

Do you use Google Alerts? How have they helped (or hindered) your research?

Yesterday I was the featured blogger on the on-going Geneabloggers series "May I Introduce You To." It was such a pleasure to be asked and I've already been introduced to some new bloggers. A big thank you to Gini of Ginisology for all her work on this great series. And thank you to all my readers for your supportive comments...you make this such a wonderful hobby!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Two years ago, I wrote a post about John Wilkes Booth's DNA. A post which has become, by far, the most read post on my blog. It stemmed from an article I read that stated the family of Edwin Booth was trying to conclusively determine if it was actually John Wilkes Booth that was killed in a tobacco barn in Port Royal, Virginia, or if he survived and went on to lead a relatively obscure life.

Their family legend is that John Wilkes Booth survived and lived for many more years. Using modern DNA testing, the family was hoping to compare the remains of Edwin Booth (John's brother) with those believed to be John Wilkes Booth to definitively conclude that it was indeed John that was killed.

As it turns out, their efforts have been thwarted. The family had hoped to obtain access to three vertebrae that reside in the collection of the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., which is managed by the U.S. Army Medical Command but the Army rejected their request. The fear of degrading the 150-year-old specimens was just to great for the museum.

From the beginning of Booth's killing the identity of the body found in the barn has been in question. It looks like it will remain so for the foreseeable future.

To read a full article about the John Wilkes Booth DNA saga, click here.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

You may think it strange, but one of my dearest treasures is a screwdriver.

The Screwdriver

This is my beloved screwdriver. Squirreled away from my parents' house many years ago I have coveted this tool for as long as I can remember. It belonged to my father and was his go-to screwdriver for any task. This was the "go get my screwdriver" screwdriver. The blotches of paint signify the varying colors of paint cans it was used to open and remind me of the many colors of our house. The shaft of the screwdriver is reversible making it both a flat and Phillips head screwdriver.

It has now become the go-to screwdriver in our family. We've used it to fix broken toys, make updates to our first house and teach our children how to use tools. The best part of this treasure? Every time I use it I think of my dad and there is no better reason to love it.